Miho Nishizumi
Miho Nishizumi (西住 みほ, Nishizumi Miho) is the main protagonist of Girls und Panzer, ''as well as the tank commander of the Anglerfish Team and overall commander of the Ooarai Girls Academy's Sensha-dō team Profile Miho is a second year student from Ooarai Girls Academy. She became the overall commander of her school's Sensha-dō team due to the support of other members of the team. She is also the commander of the Anglerfish Team and her team operates a 'German Panzer IV. She is the youngest daughter of Shiho Nishizumi and younger sister to Maho Nishizumi. Appearance Miho is a medium-sized girl with short, light brown hair and a pair of light brown eyes. She bears a striking physical resemblance to her sister. Miho is usually seen wearing the Ooarai Girls Academy uniform. During battle, she wears the school's Sensha-dō jacket. In less formal situations, she has worn assorted casual wear at home or in social situations. Most notably, she wore a yellow dress with white sleeves when she visited her home. As with most of the members of Ooarai's Sensha-dō team, she has performed the Anko Dance while wearing the costume to go with it. Personality Miho is known for her cheerful and polite demeanor, occasional shyness, and as a highly talented Sensha-dō commander. During every Sensha-dō match, she becomes serious, calm and decisive. Her hobby is collecting bandaged teddy bears called Boko, of which she already has a lot in her apartment and her room back in the Nishizumi's house. At the start of the series, Miho was trying to distance herself from Sensha-dō due to her recent negative experience in it, but chose to take it up with her friends. She gradually starts to enjoy it again, but held tight to her belief that one's comrades are more important than victory, willing to accept defeat if it means saving them from harm. One of her most important traits is without doubt her loyalty to her friends, being ready to do everything for their sake (such as when she saved her teammate's life, or when she accepted to join Ooarai's Sensha-dō team when her friends were being threatened for supporting her). It can also be directed to her new school, as when she learned that defeat in the tournament means that Ooarai will close, she became determined in doing her best to achieve victory. Also, although she took a different path, she still loves her sister and holds her in high regard. Background Miho is a girl who comes from a family that traditionally practices Sensha-dō, or "Way of the Tank"; brought up to live for this, she practiced it (in the ranks of Kuromorimine Girls Academy) until after the previous year's Sensha-dō finals. This was partly because she was responsible for their defeat (she chose to save a tank crew from drowning after it fell into a river instead of protecting her own flag tank which was subsequently destroyed by a shot from their arch-rival Pravda Girls High School). This incurred the outrage of several people, including her mother, since she did threw away a victory (an unforgivable act for the Nishizumi-style) and ended Kuromorimine's nine-year victory streak. At the beginning of the series, Miho transferred to Ooarai Girls Academy, which she partly chose because it didn't have any Sensha-dō activity in its curriculum yet; there, she started a new life and befriended girls like Saori Takebe and Hana Isuzu. Unfortunately the day she first transferred, it was then announced that the school's Sensha-dō team was being reactivated and she was approached by the Student Council's members (Anzu Kadotani, Momo Kawashima and Yuzu Koyama) as the only Ooarai student with previous experience. She didn't want to take it up again, but when her friends showed willingness to stand up for her (in response to the Student Council's threats), for their sake she accepted and later she appears to be satisfied with her decision. Their first task was to find Ooarai's long-lost tanks, among which was a Panzer IV; after that, the instructor (Ami Chōno) decided to have a training match right away. Again, Miho showed her reluctance to resume her functions (refusing to be the Panzer IV's commander, instead becoming its loader); however, during the match she regained some of her spirit and assumed de facto control of the team, leading it to victory (and gaining new friends in Yukari Akiyama and Mako Reizei). A training match against St. Gloriana Girls College saw her assume the overall command of Ooarai's forces, thanks to her previous experience and her natural skills (while becoming commander of the Anglerfish Team). She gradually regained some confidence in herself when the Tournament started, winning against Saunders University High School and Anzio Girls High School; however, only when they were pitted against Pravda did Miho learn how important her actions were for Ooarai, as the Student Council revealed that only winning the Tournament would save Ooarai from closure. As she had come to see Ooarai as her new home, she became determined to win, and managed to overcome their situation and win against the current champions. Her ultimate test went during the Finals, when Ooarai fought against the same school for which she had previously fought for, not to mention her own sister. Overcoming Ooarai's own disadvantage, an accident that reminded her of her actions, and her sister's ability, Miho's actions won a narrow victory for Ooarai, ensuring that her new home would survive. After the match, she and her sister shared some words about her finally finding her own way in Sensha-dō. Little Army The prequel manga "Little Army" deals with Miho forming a tank crew with some of her first friends in elementary school, and having a match against her sister's team. This eventually leads her (due to her half-German friend '''Emi Nakasuga) to see her family's Sensha-dō in a new light (such as Maho gaining a victory by firing on a tank that was trying to bring help to a teammate), and questioning her own desires, and resolving to find her own way of Sensha-dō. This prequel also gives hindsight about her family background, as it depicts her mother's belief that only victory matters, and especially her sister's decision to take on the role of the Nishizumi heir to give Miho a chance to be free and find her own Sensha-dō style). Inspiring Others The actions of Miho Nishizumi, as well as Ooarai Girl's High School as a whole have inspired countless individuals. Indeed, with the help of national television, their underdog story is known to many in Japan, and even on an international level. Indeed, some of these people have used Ooarai's victory as a catalyst to start their own journeys in Sensha-dō, forming the plots for many spin-off manga and novels. A list of notable individuals that have been affected by Miho's victory in the 63rd National High School Sensha-dō Tournament are listed below. Emi Nakasuga (Little Army Volume 2) *Miho Nishizumi's victory was displayed on a large electronic billboard on Emi's second day at attending Bellwall. This encouraged her to remain at Bellwall and find her own technique of Sensha-dō in Japan. Shizuka Tsuruki (Ribbon Warrior) *After watching the news, Shizuka decided that Sensha-dō would be a way to... Rin Matsukaze (Ribbon Warrior) *The news of Ooarai's victory over Saunders was big news on television, which caught Rin's attention. She continued to track Ooarai's progress throughout the tournament, rooting for them the entire way. Their victory over Kuromorimine caused her to become interested with Sensha-dō, and follow in Miho's footsteps. She began investigating the possibility of joining her school's Sensha-dō club, but unfortunately for Rin, it had been disbanded over a decade ago. Fortunately, she was able to participate in Sensha-dō by teaming up with Shizuka Tsuruki and joining Tankathalon battles. **Being the team's mechanic, she also idolizes Leopon Team and is a fan of Nakajima. Countless Individuals in Japan *During the Ribbon Warrior Arc, a group of students at the Mt. Fuji training grounds were seen grumbling about how there were so many wannabes that popped up after Ooarai won the tournament. It can be assumed that like Rin, such individuals were inspired by the fact that a rag-tag team with virtually no experience could win against what was considered the mightiest team in the nation, thus encouraging them to pursue the sport. Trivia * Miho's favorite tank is the German Panzer II Ausf.E/F. However, the tank which she is most commonly seen using (both in the main series and in the Little Army prequel) is the German Panzer IV Ausf.D that would later be modified to an Ausf.F2 then to an Ausf.H. * Miho's Tiger I in the flashback was numbered 217, the same number on the tank of the real-life tank commander Otto Carius. For certain reasons, KMM didn't field this Tiger after Miho leaved the team in the anime or manga nor change the number to 212. This might mean that Kuromorimine had more than one Tiger I tanks in its disposal. *Miho's family name Nishizumi is likely a reference to real life ace tanker 1st Lt. Kojiro Nishizumi, who served in the Sino-Japanese War in command of a Type 89 I-Go. *Miho Nishizumi was the first character to receive an official voice pack mod for the online tank battle game World of Tanks, as part of developer Wargaming.net's Japanese promotional collaboration with Girls und Panzer. *Miho's birthday is the October 23rd, the same date in 1942 as the start of Operation Lightfoot, better known as the Second Battle of El Alamein. Ironically Miho as the younger sister represents the Second Battle of El-Alamein while Maho as the elder represent the First Battle. *In the anime, Miho proved that she didn't knew about the Maus tank that her former school fielded, despite being the former vice-commander, indicating that Kuromorimine likely obtained that tank after she left. This might be a reference to the fact that the Allies didn't knew about the Maus nor the Soviet discovery of that particular tank. However it seems that Katyusha knows about the Maus. This is the reference to the Soviet discovery of the original Maus hulls and turret on Kummersdorf Testing Facilities where the Maus was trialed. *Miho directly became the vice commander of the Kuromorimine school on her first day of High School. *Despite having an extensive knowledge and know-how about tanks, Miho considers herself as a bad tank driver, as she mentionned in Episode 3 and Little Army. *According to Erika, Miho's favourite food is Macarons. *There is a Panzerfaust in Miho's room at Kumamoto. *Before finally choosing Sensha-dō, Miho selected "Incense Ceremony" as her elective. *Her size measurements are: B82 W56 H84, a near-perfect Hourglass figure. *Despite leading her team to victory both in the anime and film, and her ability to instruct and direct her team with incredible skill, Miho still can't overcome her inability to speak in front of larger crowds. *Katyusha calls her Mihosha. *In Phase: Erika, due to intense nature of Nishizumi Style training and lifestyle, Miho and Maho could sense the presence of any tank or incoming shells without needing to see them. This skill allowed them to dodge incoming shells easily (as demonstrated when Miho dodged Firefly's shot without even looking) and found out if enemies trying to sneak on their back (as demonstrated when Maho knows Turtle Team's Hetzer lurking on her back). However, they seem still prone to lie-and-waiting ambush tactic (as when Kuromorimine caught Ooarai by surprise when waiting for them in the forest), as the tanks doesn't make any movement or noise till the very last second. *In manga she more self-confident, unlike anime. Gallery. vi:Miho Nishizumi es:Miho Nishizumi Category:Characters Category:Anime Characters Category:Females Category:Polynymous Category:Anglerfish Team Category:Overall Commanders Category:Tank Commanders Category:Ooarai Girls' High School Category:Kuromorimine Girls' High School Category:Little Army Characters Category:TemporaryCategory Category:Nishizumi Three Category:Nishizumi